FORT SMITH (AP) — Ever since a Fort Smith officer was shot to death five years ago, the city’s police officers answer domestic and standby calls in pairs.

Friday marked the anniversary of the death of Officer Daniel Cruz Martinez, 33, who had been on the force just eight months when he was killed.

“Danny’s death is still felt throughout the (Fort Smith Police Department),” Fort Smith Police Chief Kevin Lindsey told the Southwest Times Record. “He is fondly remembered and will never be forgotten.”

Martinez’s death is a constant reminder of the peril an officer may face while protecting and serving the public, according to Capt. Jarrard Copeland.

“Officer Martinez was a good officer and a cautious officer, but (what happened to him) is a good example that anything can happen no matter how cautious you are,” Copeland said.

Martinez was dispatched to help Donna Stevens retrieve her 3-year-old son from the home of her estranged boyfriend, Bobby Englebright. He accompanied Stevens to the residence, which Englebright shared with his parents and his brother, Richard Englebright Jr.

Martinez stood by as Stevens knocked on the door. When Richard Englebright answered, Stevens said she wanted to get her son and was asked to wait.

When Richard Englebright returned, he shot Martinez in the head and chased Stevens before wounding her, officials said. She survived.

He drove into Oklahoma, where the Highway Patrol located him near Spiro. After he stopped, officials say he shot himself in the head. The Oklahoma Medical Examiner’s Office in Tulsa ruled Englebright’s death a suicide.

“It’s something we think about almost daily, especially the officers who are out working the beat,” Copeland said. “I imagine every time they step to the door of a home they think about what happened to Officer Martinez.”

Martinez’s death prompted change in police policy.

“Instead of sending just one officer (to standbys and domestic calls), we mandated that two officers be sent to calls like that,” said Lindsey, who had become chief not long before the shooting. “Danny’s death was not in vain, because the department has learned how to better keep officers safe.”